.NET Core Essentials, a Visual Studio Code Extension Pack for .NET Core Development

Introduction

Are you tired of reinstalling extensions on each of your computer(s)? How about when you have to reset computer entirely? Or, how about you're an instructor, a hobbyist, or just "getting your feet wet" in the fine craft of .NET Core development who does not know which extension(s) to select to get the job done both efficiently and effectively. Regardless, please do not waste time and energy on something so tedious as a process of installing extensions. Extensions are, in a word, awesome! Their premise is to extend the features and functionality of Visual Studio Code.

What extensions will I get by selecting this extension pack?

Glad, that you've asked! Please find the supervening extensions. Of course, I always love to hear your suggestions to improve this extension package. To do so, please create a new issue in the Issues Section. After all, the ultimate goal for this extension pack is convenience at the click of one button.

Recommended Theme for .NET Core Development

• Community Material Theme: A VS Code plugin featuring the Material Theme with 'legacy' color schemes that has been embarced by the developer community.

• Material Icon Theme: A VS Code plugin that offers Material Design icons for Visual Studio Code.

Recommended Extensions for .NET Core Development

C# Support

• C#: A VSCode plugin that provides support for:

  • C# editing support, including but not limited to Syntax Highlighting, IntelliSense, Go To Definition, and Find All References, respectively.

  • Debugging support for .NET Core (CoreCLR). NOTE: Mono debugging is not supported; whereas, Desktop CLR debugging has limited support.

  • Lightweight development tools for .NET Core.

  • Support for project.json and csproj projects on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

• C# Extensions: A VSCode plugin that provides extensions to VSCode to speed up your development workflow.

• C# IL Viewer: A VSCode plugin for IL (Intermediate Language) Viewer that allows the rapid inspection of the IL output of any given C# file.

• C# Namespace Autocompletion: A VSCode plugin that pulls namespace autocompletion for C#.

• C# XML Documentation Comments: A VSCode plugin that generate XML documentation comments for Visual Studio Code.

.NET Framework

• ASP.NET Core: A VSCode plugin that parses your project to enable IntelliSense for Razor pages within an ASP.NET MVC project.

• ASP.NET Core Switcher: A VSCode plugin that quickly switch between views, controllers, pages, page models, and Blazor components in ASP.NET Core using keybindings, context menu, or command palette.

• Essential ASP.NET Core 3 Snippets: A VSCode plugin that boosts high quality code snippets that boost your ASP.NET Core development productivity.

• LibMan Tools: A VSCode plugin providing LibMan support.

• .NET Core Add Reference: A VSCode plugin that either adds or removes references of your .NET Core projects.

• .NET Core Test Explorer: A VSCode plugin that serves as Test Explorer for .NET Core, specifically support for (1) MSTest, (2) xUnit, and (3) NUnit.

• .NET Core Tools: A VSCode plugin that builds, runs, and tests .NET Core project, whether C# or F#.

• .NET Core User Secrets: A VSCode plugin that supports right-selecting a .csproj file in the Explorer and select Manage User Secrets from the context menu to insert auto-generated UserSecretsId element and/or open associated secrets.json file.

• Run Terminal Command: A VSCode plugin that runs predefined terminal commands from either the Explorer context menu or the Command Palette, respectively.

• Super Sharp: A VSCode plugin that adds constructor injected dependencies from anywhere inside a class. Note: The refactor is available when the cursor is inside a class that contains a constructor.

• VSCode-proto3: A VSCode plugin that provides Protobuf 3 support.

NuGet Functionalities

• MSBuild Project Tools: A VSCode plugin that provides Intellisense for MSBuild project files, including auto-complete for elements.

• NuGet Gallery: A VSCode plugin that provides the installation and even subsequent "un-installation" of NuGet packages easier.

• NuGet Package Manager: A VSCode plugin that allows for add or remove .NET Core 1.1+ package references to and from your project's .csproj or .fsproj files using Command Palette.

• NuGet Reverse Package Search: A VSCode plugin that adds the reverse .NET Core package lookup support such as the Add Package context menu item in full Visual Studio.

• Path Intellisense: A VSCode plugin that autocomplete filenames.

• Version Lens: A VSCode plugin displaying version information when opening a package or project for either:

  • composer.

  • dotnet;

  • dub;

  • jspm;

  • maven;

  • npm; and,

  • pub.

Support

• Better Comments: A VSCode plugin whose premise is to create more human-friendly comments in your code, whereby you will be able to categorize your annotations into:

  • Alerts.

  • Highlights.

  • Queries.

  • TODOs.

  • Commented out code can be styled to make it clear the code should not be there.

  • Any other comment styles you'd like can be specified in the settings.

• Bracket Pair Colorizer 2: A VSCode plugin that allows matching brackets to be identified with colours. The user can define which tokens to match, and which colours to use.

• Copy Text: A VSCode plugin offers that copies text without colors, optionally adds metainfo such as the document name and its date.

• EditorConfig for VS Code: A VSCode plugin that provides EditorConfig Support for VSCode.

• GitIgnore: A VSCode plugin that provides language support for .gitignore files, whereby allowing you to pull .gitignore files from the gitignore repository.

• GitLens — Git supercharged: A VSCode plugin that supercharges its off-the-shelf Git capabilities, including but not limited to (1) visualize code authorship at a glance via Git blame annotations and code lens, (2) seamlessly navigate and explore Git repositories, and (3) gain valuable insights via powerful comparison commands.

• Highlight Trailing White Spaces: A VSCode plugin that highlights in red color trailing white spaces.

• IISExpress for Visual Studio Code: A VSCode plugin that allows for running the current folder as a website using the IIS Express web server

• Live Share Extension Pack: A VSCode extension pack, which includes:

  • Live Share: A VSCode extension that supports real-time collaborative development.

  • Live Share Audio: A VSCode extension that adds audio calling capabilities to Live Share.

• MarkdownLint: A VSCode plugin that serves as its Markdown linting and style checking.

• MSSQL: A VSCode plugin that supports developing Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, and SQL Data Warehouse, whose functionalities including but not limited to:

  • Connect to Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL Database and SQL Data Warehouses.

  • Create and manage connection profiles and most recently used connections.

  • Write T-SQL script with IntelliSense, Go to Definition, T-SQL snippets, syntax colorizations, T-SQL error validations and GO batch separator.

  • Execute your scripts and view results in a simple to use grid.

  • Save the result to json or csv file format and view in the editor.

  • Customizable extension options including command shortcuts and more.

• Paste JSON as Code: A VSCode plugin that supports such languages as TypeScript, C#, JavaScript, and JSON Schema:

  • Interactively generate types and (de-)serialization code from JSON, JSON Schema, and TypeScript.

  • Paste JSON/JSON Schema/TypeScript as code.

• Quick and Simple Text Selection: A VSCode plugin that selects between including but not limited to quote, brackets, and tags.

• Quokka.js: A VSCode plugin that supports rapid both JavaScript and TypeScript prototyping. Note: Runtime values are updated and displayed in the IDE next to your code, as you type.

• TODO Highlight: A VSCode plugin that highlights TODO, FIXME, and other annotations within your code.

• Visual Studio Keymap: A VSCode plugin that ports popular VS keyboard shortcuts. Note: After installing the extension and restarting VSCode, your favorite keyboard shortcuts from VS are now available.

Azure Support

• Azure Serverless Tools: A VSCode extension pack that includes these plugins:

  • Azure Account, which provides a single Azure sign-in and subscription filtering experience for all other Azure extensions. Note: This plugin makes Azure's Cloud Shell service available in VSCode's integrated terminal.

  • Azure Databases, which is a plugin that browses and queries your Azure databases both locally and in the cloud using #scrapbooks# with rich Intellisense then connect to Azure to manage your PostgreSQL and Cosmos DB databases with support for MongoDB, Graph (Gremlin), and SQL.

  • Azure Functions, which is a plugin that quickly create, debug, manage, and deploy serverless apps directly from VS Code.

  • Azure Pipelines, which is a plugin that adds syntax highlighting and autocompletion for Azure Pipelines YAML to VS Code. Likewise, this plugin allows you set up continuous build and deployment for Azure Web Apps without leaving VSCode.

  • Azure Storage, which is a Microsoft-managed service providing cloud storage that is highly available, secure, durable, scalable, and redundant. Note: Use the extension to deploy static websites and Single Page Apps (SPAs) and browse Azure Blob Containers, File Shares, Tables, and Queues.

  • Azure Terraform, which is a plugin that is designed to increase developer productivity authoring, testing and using Terraform with Azure. Note: This plugin provides terraform command support, resource graph visualization and CloudShell integration inside VSCode.

Recommended Extension to Complement This Extension Pack

• JavaScript Debugger (Nightly): A Visual Studio Code extension that debugs Node.js programs and web applications in both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, respectively.

Visual Studio Code Tips and Tricks from its Docs

• Please puruse the Visual Studio Code Variables Reference, if you wish to use variables substitution.

• VSCode Keyword Shortcuts

  • Linux: Link contains PDF.

  • macOS: Link contains PDF.

  • Windows: Link contains PDF.

• Please puruse the Visual Studio Code Keybindings, if you wish to use custom keybindings.

  • Optional Keymap Extensions: I recommend the specific keybinding extension that meets your use case through Microsoft, if possible.

• Please puruse the Visual Studio Code Tips and Tricks to make your experience a little bit more enjoyable.

Note

It is my pledge to update this Extension Package with update extension as needed to perform the job efficiently and effectively. Likewise, the Extensions list will be categorized accordingly and more detailed information regarding plugins will be incorporated in the near future. I will certainly be on the lookup for some helpful .NET Core Development hints and tips to make your experience enjoyable. Cheers! :)

Recommended Tutorial for Visual Studio Code

• Visual Studio Code Full Course - VS Code for Beginners (4:32:46) | [November 4, 2020]: Courtesy of Bitfumes in partnership with FreeCodeCamp.org.
• Visual Studio Code Crash Course (1:32:34): Courtesy of Mr. James Quick in partnership with FreeCodeCamp.org, whom provided a VSCode Cheatsheet on his website (note: free registration required).

Recommended .NET Tutorials

• IAMTimCorey: I highly recommend this YouTube channel for mastering .NET Development, particularly check out:
  • Intro to VSCode for C# Developers - From Installation to Debugging (49:29) [October 14, 2019]

Please let me know if you know any FREE .NET Core resources that might benefit others by creating a new issue in the Issues Section.

Attribution

Thank you for all the developers that built these above referenced extensions. My genuine appreciation for your hard work and dedication to the developer community. :)

Visual Studio Code Extension Packs

• COBOL Essentials: A Visual Studio Code extension for Mainframe development, particularly Mainframe as a Service (MaaS). Link contains PDF from Washington Technology Services, which provides an example of MaaS.

• Java Essentials: A Visual Studio Code extension pack for Java development.

• .NET Core Essentials: This Visual Studio Code Extension Pack is what you are currently seeing. :)

• PHP Development Essentials: A Visual Studio Code extension pack that serves as the comprehensive version of Web Development Essentials pack, which, unlike Web Development Essentials, does not have Angular or React extensions.

• Python Essentials: A Visual Studio Code extension pack for Python development.

• Web Development Essentials: A Visual Studio Code extension pack that serves as the condensed version of the PHP Development Essentials pack for Visual Studio Code, whose main premise is centered around JavaScript ecosystem.

Disclaimer

Please be advised that this is an "off-the-clock" passion project, whose intent is to be utilized by anyone (including my colleagues) who will derive benefit from this one-click installation of popular extensions that I felt was a relevant theme to this Extension Pack.

Signing Off

Please enjoy! Cheers!